Monday, 27 August 2007

SoundExchange, WebCasters Ink Royalty Deal

SoundExchange, the not for profit performance rights organisation has struck a deal with several large webcasters on royalty payment...

SoundExchange, the not for profit performance rights organisation has struck a deal with several large webcasters on royalty payment.

Soundexchange said that the maximum a webcaster— irrespective of how many stations they own—will pay is USD 50,000 under a provision requiring a USD 500 per station advance for royalties. The US Copyright Office has designated SoundExchange to collect and distribute digital performance royalties from sound recordings.

With this initiative, SoundExchange hopes see the limit enacted by regulators as an industry-wide standard.

As part of the agreement, all Webcasters should report all tracks they play, instead of reporting from a sampling. Also included in the deal is a caveat that webcasters will cooperate with SoundExchange on the development of anti-stream-ripping technologies.

"There is no requirement that any of the services implement any particular technology, nor that they develop, or accept from a third party, a particular technology," the group explained in a prepared statement.

SoundExchange represents more than 3,000 record labels and more than 20,000 artists.